The Ontario Dairy Youth Award selection committee is pleased to announce the winners of the Ontario Dairy Youth Award for 2014. Established in 1980, the competition recognizes young people aged 25-35 who are actively involved in the operation of a dairy farm, who have demonstrated leadership and taken an active role in their communities and within their breed has taken place. These four lucky winners will receive all-expenses paid trip to World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin this fall. The Ontario Dairy Youth Award is funded through the Ontario Dairy Youth Trust Fund and the Ontario Holstein Branch.
WESTERN – Dave Standeaven (519-393-6671) • delhaven@quadro.net
Dave milks 96 cows in Perth County, in partnership with his wife, Dana, and his parents, Glen and Elaine. The 378- acre Master Breeder operation in St. Marys, Ontario, is home to a total of 210 head. Cows are milked twice daily with eight Delaval automatic take-off units and fed varying compositions of TMR depending on age and lactation cycle. Dave does all the breeding and focuses on both type and production, while also paying attention to feet and legs.
In a four-year span from 2005 to 2009, the Standeaven’s built two separate pack barns – one with maternity pens – for dry cows and heifers. They’ve also purchased 40 kgs of quota, installed two silos, added 32 tie-stalls to their existing barn and converted an old bank barn into a nursery for calves and post-weaned calves. In the next five years, Dave would like to build a free-stall barn with robots to house all animals in one place and renovate the current tie-stall for heifers and calves.
As a father of two and a sports-enthusiast himself, Dave enjoys volunteering his time with minor baseball and hockey in St. Marys. He has been part of several Holstein committees, helps annually with the Perth County Club sale and is Past President of the Perth County Holstein Club. He also keeps busy each spring making maple syrup from the over 1100 taps on his family’s 18-acre sugar bush.
WEST-CENTRAL – Graham Johnston (519-575-2174) • gorelane@yahoo.ca
Third generation dairy farmer, Graham Johnston, operates Heritage Hill Farms in New Dundee, Ontario. The family farm, which was originally started in 1842 in Brampton, is home to four different prefixes and is run in partnership with Graham’s parents, James and Frances, his sister and brother-in-law (Mary Ann and Joe Doré), with part-time help from sister, Claire.
Graham and his family milk 60 cows in a double 8 Heringbone Boumatic parlour. Their breeding program focuses on strong, angular cows with well-attached udders. Cows are fed TMR and custom operators are used to produce the feed. After graduating from the University of Guelph in 2002, Graham helped computerize the farm’s cow and crop records and develop protocols for treating sick animals. In the future, the Johnston’s plan to build a heifer shed in order to move heifers currently housed in Brampton to New Dundee and save on related costs. They also plan to build storage for equipment and hay.
2014 ONTARIO DAIRY YOUTH AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED
For Immediate Release Contact: Jason French Tel: 519-653-6180 branch@ontario.holstein.ca
Graham is a 4-H leader in Oxford and Waterloo and is an active member of the Waterloo Holstein Club. In his spare time, he enjoys a variety of sports and for several years, played the trombone in the Chinguacousy Concert Band & Ching Swing Orchestra.
EAST-CENTRAL – Philip Prinzen (613-399-3330)
• prinzhavenfarms@hotmail.com
Philip and his wife, Selena, milk 65 cows and farm a total of 480 acres of land in beautiful Prince Edward County. Located in Bloomfield, Philip started back in 1999 when he was just 19 years old, milking 12 grade cows in a rented barn. Today, he and Selena have a farm of their own and manage a purebred herd of 78 cows, the majority of which are Holsteins.
The Prinzens feed TMR and all cows are fed the same ration. Focusing on dry cow management, instituting a pre-synch program for 13 month calving intervals and moving to bi-weekly herd health have all contributed to the Prinzens success and from 2010 to 2012, they were rated the top-managed herd in Prince Edward County.
Since purchasing the farm, the Prinzens have completed a total stall renovation, which included raising headrails and installing new pasture mats. They’ve also purchased a new TMR mixer to include hay, installed a liquid manure pit and continued to purchase quota when possible. Philip is active in the community and serves as a volunteer firefighter and president of the Prince Edward Milk Producer Committee.
EASTERN – Melanie Chisholm (613-913-2099)
• mell_macmillan@hotmail.com
Melanie and her husband, Lucas, milk 60 cows in a tie-stall facility in Leeds County. Located in Lombardy, the successful Ayrshire and Holstein operation was first run by Melanie’s parents, Ron and Lynne MacMillan. After graduating from Kemptville College, Melanie returned home and now manages the family farm, which is slowly being transitioned to a Holstein herd.
In 2006 the Chisholms built a Cover All pack barn to house heifers and dry cows, which has allowed them to become better managers and breed heifers sooner. In 2012, they moved to 3x milking. Though it was supposed to be temporary, they saw such great response from the cows that they continued for well over a year. They now also outsource their forage work to custom operators, providing them with better quality feed and freeing up their time to focus on the cows.
Melanie is a passionate promoter of the dairy industry and strongly believes that “people want to know where and who their food is coming from.” In the past, she has been a 4-H Dairy Club Leader and currently serves as the Vice- President and Livestock Committee Chairperson with the Lombardy Agricultural Society.
